Petrol tank leak

MexicoMike · May 8, 2022

Of course, welding or brazing is the best fix; there is no doubt about that and I have brazed many tanks/fittings in the past. But I don't have the gear anymore and I really dislike sending out anything for someone else to work on if there is any way to do it myself. So I have to admit that if it was my tank, Unless I had a buddy down the street with the welding/brazing gear, I'd drill a small hole at each end of the crack to halt any additional cracking and then use JB Weld to seal the crack/holes. I have seen JB Weld used in similar situations that are still holding fine after 20+ years.

Yeah, I know it's "shade tree" but it works and it's not like anybody is ever going to be able to look at the tank and derogatorily shout to the world, "OH my God, he used JB Weld instead of having it properly repaired!"

concours · May 8, 2022

MexicoMike said:
Of course, welding or brazing is the best fix; there is no doubt about that and I have brazed many tanks/fittings in the past. But I don't have the gear anymore and I really dislike sending out anything for someone else to work on if there is any way to do it myself. So I have to admit that if it was my tank, Unless I had a buddy down the street with the welding/brazing gear, I'd drill a small hole at each end of the crack to halt any additional cracking and then use JB Weld to seal the crack/holes. I have seen JB Weld used in similar situations that are still holding fine after 20+ years.

Yeah, I know it's "shade tree" but it works and it's not like anybody is ever going to be able to look at the tank and derogatorily shout to the world, "OH my God, he used JB Weld instead of having it properly repaired!"

I used JB Weld to repair a Royal Enfield tank that had a hole chaffed through (overloaded tank bag had it touching the engine).
12 years later, BeezaBryan is still using it.

Will it work here? Of course.
How long till the problem comes back.... a while. Will it be a SOB to clean it to weld later? Yup.

worntorn · May 8, 2022

I used POR 15 on a Vincent tank about ten years and 35,000 miles ago.
One of the welds near the front top had cracked such that the tank would leak for 50 miles or so after a fill-up.
In order to re-weld the tank, the paint job would have been destroyed.
It was last painted in the 1980s by Brian Dees of DeesSpray in the UK, lovely job and still nice 40 years later.
The POR15 worked beautifully, leak fixed, no $1000 paint job required.
Others have had different results.
The tank had some rust inside which was always a concern. That is no longer a concern (see photo)
I followed the instructions completely.
It's a time consuming process but it worked.

Glen

concours · May 9, 2022

JBWeld will be in my saddlebag for this 2000 mile ride on the Commando.

PeterJoe · May 9, 2022

I just looked inside my original Roadster steel gas tank and noticed that all of the threaded inserts are brazed to the bottom of the tank. So if you have a crack near one of these threaded inserts I don't think welding would be an option. Brazing of course, would work.

Peter Firkins

Petrol tank leak

MexicoMike

concours

worntorn

concours

PeterJoe

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